Engineering Innovation in Global Health: Proposal for support of undergraduate student participation at the 2012 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference, San Diego CA, USA The Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) is the world's largest international society of biomedical engineers, with approximately 9,100 members who reside in 97 countries, with the vast majority being in the United States. The annual flagship conference of the EMBS, the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference (EMBC), is held to support the society's mission of advancing the application of engineering sciences and technology to medicine and biology, and promoting the profession by disseminating knowledge, setting standards, fostering professional development, and recognizing excellence. Next year's EMBC will be held in San Diego from August 28 through September 1, 2012. EMBC'12 will consist of platform and poster sessions spread across 11 themes in biomedical engineering, including biomedical imaging, biosignal processing, bioinformatics, neuroengineering, biorobotics, micro- and nano-biosensors, healthcare information systems, and biomedical engineering education. In addition to the technical/scientific sessions, there will also be tutorials and workshops that are more educationally oriented, as well as networking sessions and panel discussions related to career choices for students and postdoctoral trainees. The nature, types of activities and scale of EMBC'12 provide an excellent environment can be utilized to promote biomedical research as a potential career pathway among top-notch undergraduate students in bioengineering. The support that we are requesting from the R13 grant will be used to address three specific aims: (1) To establish the first of an ongoing series of forums within the annual Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference in which undergraduate bioengineering research and/or design work can be presented within a friendly and supportive environment; (2) To provide a unique opportunity for top-notch undergraduate students to be exposed first-hand to state-of-the-art advances in bioengineering research and the leaders in the field, as well as for them to participate in networking and mentoring activities that may be critical in encouraging them to pursue graduate study or research-oriented careers; (3) To provide travel fellowship funds to the top tier of the presenting authors of the undergraduate research/design poster sessions so that the burdening costs of travel to the conference can be partially defrayed. Particular attention will be directed to encouraging the participation of students from under-represented minority groups, women, and disabled students. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) will hold its annual conference (EMBC'12) at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel in San Diego from August 28 through September 1, 2010. Since one of the key goals of the EMBS is to develop a pipeline of future biomedical engineers by fostering education and professional development, an important focus of EMBC'12 would be on increasing the participation of undergraduate students by establishing the first of an ongoing series of forums in which undergraduate bioengineering research and/or design work can be presented within a friendly and supportive environment. This would provide a unique opportunity for top-notch undergraduate students to be exposed first-hand to state-of-the-art advances in bioengineering research and the leaders in the field, as well as for them to participate in networking and mentoring activities that may be critical in encouraging them to pursue graduate study or research-oriented careers in biomedical science and engineering. The requested support will be used to provide travel fellowship funds to the top twenty presenting authors of the undergraduate research/design poster sessions so that the burdening costs of travel to the conference can be partially defrayed. Particular attention will be directed to encouraging the participation of students from under-represented minority groups, women, and disabled students.